4/30 AMPS 345 +2 369 and so on

[RobbiesMom]

Another day another set of frustrations. I set the alarm and woke up at 3am to make sure he found the autofeeder food - he's sleeping happily at my feet, I am loath to wake him but I know he'll be up in an hour or so screaming if I don't. So I lead him to the auto feeder where he begins to INHALE the just under 1/2 can of watered down FF that is in there - I mean he's not chewing, licking he's just sucking it in like a starving cat. He's also not happy about being ear poked (and he's been so good about this) shakes his head and flings blood all over the place 2x's as I'm half asleep and trying to get a good spot (and his ear is so hot from sleeping on my bed anywhere I poke I get a big spurt). Finally I get a test 274 - great, hardly worth all my efforts for that totally uneventful information... Back to bed and than at 6:30 the MEOWY alarm goes off and I pop out of bed like a piece of (french) toast - think I should cuddle him up and try and hold off till 7am but remember in my sleep deprived stupor that we shot early last night so.... I test he's 345 I shoot 4.5 and feed breakfast (I have to so his numbers will be screwy again) - he begins to INHALE again "Mom you haven't fed me for days, it's been days, I swear ask the dog" So he finishes the full can FF in seconds. At +2 he's 369 (there's that food) and here's the totally annoying one at +5 he's 278? Really, you're kidding me? I couldn't get a 250 or a 245 out of 4.5 u's??? The rest of the day will be no tests - not till +10 going to creep up to 5.0 I think.
Other options? Thoughts on food timing (how do I adjust this? Do I bother?) and when do you all Sleep? What's it like to hit REM? ..... :sad:

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

My only suggestion is, whenever you can during the day, put food into the feeder and when it goes off, get him all excited and lead him to the food. He should learn to associate the noise with food. Niko explodes off the bed when it goes off; Oliver would go over about the time it should go off and stare at it until it turned.......

Since today is kinda messed up, waiting for an evening test is great. Right now, you have a lot of variables. Things should settle down once you and he get into a routine that works better for both of you. (We know which one works for him. )

Breathe. Just like Home Depot - you can do this; we can help.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Ellen,
I know that you are extremely frustrated, but I have to tell you that you have a great sense of humor about this. :smile:
When somebody is having a sucky day, and they can make other people laugh about it, that's a great sense of humor.

Basic diet plan -
He has to eat at AMPS and PMPS.
He shouldn't eat 2-3 hours before AMPS or PMPS.
If you feed between shots, you can time the feedings to influence his curve. You can do the "hour before nadir" plan, which can stop them from going lower than you want them to.
Sooooo, you have to either change his shot schedule to the times 12 hours apart when he insists that he hasn't eaten for a week or longer, the two times a day he absolutely demands food and won't take pets, cuddles or playtime as a substitute, or... you have to train him to eat only at the predetermined times that you establish as "food time" without him knowing it's you who are behind the schedule..... At the 2 shots he eats, and then whenever works best for you and his cycle timing. That can be 4, 6, or 20 times a day, as long as 2 of those times is AMPS and PMPS, and the other times can be when the auto-feeder drops food for him.
I would think that in time, he would learn to associate the feeder with the food rather than the lady with the opposable thumbs.... "OK, so Mom bribes me with food in exchange for pokes, but this!, this wonderful new device is where I can get all the food I want for FREE? OK, Mom, I'll be sleeping over here by this vending machine from now on!"

 

[RobbiesMom]

LMAO - Yes, Carl humor is what gets me thru life. I have NO idea why he hasn't figured the timer out - maybe cause we've only been using it steady for about a week? He had the needle gun figured out in a couple of days - as in "mom clicks that pen, jabs my ear, I get food" and now I pick the damn thing up and click it he's at my side OR at his "feeding station" waiting and crying. He also likes to bite at the pen - which I find hysterical - like "OK you take this you sharp pokey pokey thing" :lol:
He was tested at +5 (4pm) and got dinner - 294 - heading home now and will check him again at 6pm (since he got his shot at 6:30am) - I don't know why Daddy fed him - clearly a husband/wife mis-communication thingy so tonight will be F'd up as well I guess... sigh...
I'm going to go over both posts more carefully at home (just trying to get out of work) - and figure out how to do as suggested as it all makes sense (to me at least - we'll see how Robbie feels about it)

Thanks gang.